Last week, the machine that was hosting www.netlib.org crashed, causing
numerous problems with submissions to NA Digest and all netlib services.
Though the machine is back up, its services are in the process of being ported
to a new machine. Thanks for your patience during this transition period.

Version 1.1 of CVX, our MATLAB-based modeling package for disciplined
convex programming, has been released. You are invited to download it
from

http://www.stanford.edu/~boyd/cvx/

CVX makes it easy to specify and solve convex optimization problems in
MATLAB. For example, the complete source code required to solve an
l_1-regularized least-squares problem, with variable bound constraints, is

NA-Digest readers with an interest in the history of numerical analysis
might wish to know about the new autobiographical book

Off at a Tangent, by John Mason, published by
University of Huddersfield, UK
ISBN 186218-071-7

John worked in 4 countries as a numerical analyst, journalist,
BBC Radio scriptwriter and revue producer. He returned to
academia in the UK, where he led NA research groups at R.M.C.S (Cranfield)
and University of Huddersfield. He is well known for his after-dinner
speeches at NA conferences, and for co-founding the journal
Advances in Computational Mathematics, and the Algorithms for Approximation
conference series.

"Off at a Tangent" gives an account of John's very varied life,
and includes full texts of 13 after-dinner speeches.

For more details, phone Mark Thornton of Mostly-Books, Abingdon, UK
on +44+(0)1235-525880 or email mark@mostly-books.co.uk

The well-known curse of dimension prevents efficient numerical treatment for
most of these problems by standard discretizations of tensor product type. The
resulting enormous computational challenges cannot be met merely by larger
computational platforms, but require fundamentally new mathematical and
algorithmic ideas.

The meeting aims at bringing together leading experts from those areas in order
to compile an account of the current state of the art. We plan to address
several research areas involving problems in high dimensions. Key topics are
sparse grid methods, linear and nonlinear approximation theory for sparse
representations, learning theory, numerical quantization, applications to
mathematical finance and to stochastic PDEs, as well as models and PDEs in high
dimensions (e.g. related to molecular dynamics, computational physics, climate
models).

The first such workshop took place December 14-18, 2005, see
http://www.igpm.rwth-aachen.de/ihp-ws

The third MIDNAG meeting which will take place on Friday 7th September
2007 at the University of Nottingham. This is the third in a series of three
workshops organized in 2007 at the member universities of Birmingham,
Leicester and Nottingham. Each meeting has a theme aimed at highlighting
advances in various areas of numerical analysis and scientific computing.

Three Year Research Position at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin,
Institute for Mathematics, in BMBF project NOVOEXP

In the recent years, powerful methods for the optimal design of
experiments for nonlinear dynamical processes have been developed.
Now, new questions are arising from complex applications in chemical
engineering and biotechnology. The development of new mathematical
methods and powerful software tools is necessary to treat these
problems together with partners from universities and industry.

The project partners from Heidelberg, Marburg and Berlin have
successfully applied for funding in the program "Mathematik für
Innovationen in Industrie und Dienstleistungen" of the German Ministry
for Education and Research (BMBF).

The full project title is "Numerical optimization methods for
parameter estimation and optimal experimental design unter
consideration of uncertainties for the validation of models of
processes in chemical engineering and biotechnology."

hosted in the group of Nonlinear Optimization of Prof. Dr. Andreas
Griewank at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

The subproject includes the following tasks:

Development of mathematical methods and efficient software for
nonlinear optimum experimental design, especially unter aspects which
concern optimization and differentiation aspects, in particular:
* Development of suited Newton and quasi Newton methods.
* Automatic differentiation for optimum experimental design problems.
* Experimental design for iterative state solvers.
* Practical experimental design for the SMB process together with the
partners from the TU Berlin and Knauer.
* Development of methods and software together with other project
partners, close cooperation with partners from industry.

COMSON (COupled Multiscale Simulation and Optimization in Nanoelectronics) is
a Marie Curie Research Training Network supported by the European Commission
in the framework of the programme ``Structuring the European Research Area"
within the 6th Framework Research Programme of the European Union. It was
established on October 1st, 2005, and will run for a total of four years.

Within COMSON, one position as experienced researchers (ER) at a postdoc level
is available for two years, starting October 2007.
This researcher at ER level will be involved in
developing the demonstrator platform and contribute to simulator coupling
for partial differential-algebraic systems,
under the supervision of Dr. Georg Denk (Qimonda AG Munich) and Prof. Michael
Guenther (Bergische Universitaet Wuppertal). This position will
be located at the Campeon Site of Qimonda AG in Neubiberg nearby Munich.

Informal enquiries and requests for further information should be sent
to

Please note the
eligibility criteria, which can be checked via the flow chart at

http://www.comson.org/index.php?cat=pdf&file=vacFlowchart.pdf

Please arrange for two letters of recommendation to be sent directly
from the referees. Deadline for application will be September, 9.
However, applications including a CV will continue to be
accepted until the position is filled.

The University invites applications for the above posts. The posts are
available from 1 October 2007, or as soon as possible thereafter, for a
period of 4 years. Starting salary will be in the range £26,666 to
£32,796 per annum (Level 6). A successful applicant who is yet to be
awarded their PhD will be appointed as a Research Assistant with a
starting salary in the range £22,332 to £25,889 per annum (Level 5).
We are seeking computer scientists, mathematics and control engineers
with a strong interest in contributing to the research.

The goals of the centre are: 1) To develop new methods for analysis,
abstraction, design, and maintenance of systems consisting of
continuous and discrete components (hybrid systems) which will lead to
significantly better formal verification and control of these systems.
2) To
develop new mathematics in dynamical systems, numerical analysis, and
other areas motivated by problems in hybrid systems. 3) To apply new
mathematical techniques, and other existing techniques identified as
being useful and relevant to problems with continuous and discrete
components in both man-made and naturally occurring systems, including
systems design, verification, analysis, maintenance and control. 4)To find
and build effective interdisciplinary interactions with both academic and
industrial partners where the results of this activity have potential
application. 5) To provide training and experience for emerging
researchers who will work in this area.

Applications should be returned by 17 September 2007 to: Faculty HR
Office, The University of Manchester, Room B7, Sackville Street Building
Sackville Street, Manchester, M60 1QD, Or by fax to: +44(0) 161 306 4037
Or by email to: eps-hr@manchester.ac.uk. All correspondence should
quote reference number EPS/174/07.

The Director of the Centre is David Broomhead to whom enquiries can be
made. (D.S.Broomhead@manchester.ac.uk).

The Chair for Computational Analysis of Technical Systems in the Department
of Mechanical Engineering at the RWTH Aachen University seeks a 50% scientific
co-worker (TV-L 13 salary scale). The position will support the German Science
Foundation focus program SPP 1273 "Colloid Process Technology" project
"CFD Modeling of Colloidal Aggregates".

The candidate is expected to conduct research leading to a doctoral thesis in
the area of method and model development for simulation of colloidal aggregates
(collection of spherical particles) in shear flows. The research will support
the development of reduced mechanistic models that should be able to predict
coalescence and breakup of the aggregates in a stochastic sense, in close
collaboration with a partner project at Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of
Complex Technical Systems in Magdeburg.

Applications are being reviewed now. The position is expected to be filled in
the second half of 2007. Application materials and inquiries should be directed
to:

Prof. Marek Behr (behr@cats.rwth-aachen.de).

The position will be associated with the graduate school Aachen Institute for
Advanced Study in Computational Engineering Science established at the RWTH
Aachen under the Excellence Initiative of the German federal and state
governments. The half-time position is especially suitable for persons with
family commitments; limited child-care support is available.

A group of several faculty at the Department of Mathematics at Texas A&M
University (in collaboration with several engineering departments) is
working on inverse problems in medical diagnostic imaging and industrial
non-destructive testing. Besides having important applications, this area
of research offers work in a number of wonderful and diverse areas of
mathematics ranging from analysis and numerics of PDEs to function theory,
harmonic and functional analysis, mathematical physics, integral and
differential geometry, finite elements and other numerical methods, and
more. Qualified PhD students are sought for for this research.

PhD program applicants having a background and interests in one or more of
these areas are encouraged to contact Assistant Professor Wolfgang
Bangerth and/or Professor Peter Kuchment at:

The Mathematics Department at Texas A&M University is large, strong, and
diverse. It offers great opportunity to learn and work in many areas of
pure and applied mathematics. For more information about the department
and its PhD program please see
http://www.math.tamu.edu/
http://www.math.tamu.edu/teaching/graduate/